As is well known, many modern vehicles are designed and manufactured to produce a relatively airtight passenger cabin to minimize road noise. However, due to the efficient sealing of these cabins, passengers may experience a sudden pressure burst when a vehicle door is shut or the vehicle ventilation system is activated. Accordingly, vehicle manufactures have traditionally employed cabin exhausters to allow this pressure inside the cabin to be quickly exhausted outside the vehicle. These exhausters are commonly seen in vehicle door jams. However, it should be appreciated that the size of these exhausters is restricted due to the area available in these door jams locations.
Recently, there has been a trend in many vehicles, such as pick-up trucks, to position exhausters in the rear, sheet metal wall of the cabin, also known as the cab back. This location affords greater flexibility in exhauster design; namely, this location enables the size of the exhausters to be maximized to increase airflow. However, it should be appreciated to those skilled in the art that this mounting position in the cab back provides a direct path for noise infiltration into the passenger cabin. This direct noise path may also increase the level of vibration and harshness experienced in the passenger cabin. Furthermore, mounting of conventional trim panels against the cab back may limit the airflow from the cabin to the exhausters. Accordingly, it is desirable to provide sufficient air exchange between the passenger cabin and the exhausters. Additionally, it is desirable to minimize the noise, vibration, and harshness (NVH) from entering the passenger compartment from the exhausters.
Furthermore, recently-enacted motor vehicle regulations in Canada and the possibility of similar regulations being enacted in the United States has spurred development in child seat restraints. Generally, as of the 2000 model year, Canada requires that all passenger vehicles be equipped with an upper child-seat anchor for each seat other than the driver's. Therefore, in vehicles such as extended cab pick-ups, each auxiliary seat mounted behind the front seats must include a child-seat anchor. However, auxiliary rear seats are typically mounted on the plastic cab back trim panel, which may not afford adequate integrity during a collision. Therefore, in order to provide adequate integrity, these child-seat anchors should be mounted to the cab back sheet metal and extend through the trim panel. Consequently, it is also desirable to conceal these child-seat anchors when not in use to provide improve aesthetics. Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a concealing device that enables convenient access to mounting locations for aftermarket retrofitting of the child-seat anchors.